CPS Energy Wins the Stupid Award

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by djw

According to this: http://www.cpsenergy.com/files/EC_Apr09_eng.pdf (broken link)

I can email a photo of my meter for my monthly reading. Here's my question...how do they KNOW it's a picture of MY meter?

Two ways:

1. The serial number of the meter is on its face (at least, it's on mine).
2. They know the last reading, so if the reading in your picture is less than the last one, or excessively higher than the last one, then they'll know it's not yours.

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by Bowie

I used to live in a city where the water meters were inside the house. If you weren't going to be home to let the water utility in to read the meter, one of the options was to give them their own key.

Since we were never willing to do that, either Mrs. Bowie or I had to stay home from work to let them in once a year to do the reading.

I remember the 1920s bungalow my parents bought in the early 1960s here in San Antonio. The electric meter and disconnect were next to the back door inside a screened porch. The overhead drop entered the front of the house and ran through the attic to the meter. The house was re-wired immediately after purchase, and the new meter and disconnect were placed on the side of the house near the front.

The gas meter was located in the crawl space underneath the front corner of the house. There was a slit cut into the skirting around the foundation that allowed the meter reader to shine a flashlight in it and take the reading. There was a hatch in the skirting next to it that gave access to the meter for servicing and to turn the gas on/off. All the gas meters in the neighborhood that weren't already so, were moved outside around 1970.